| Zhang Xianzhong | |
|---|---|
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| Reign | 1644 - 1646 |
| Successor | Sun Kewang (孫可望) |
| Full name | |
| Family name: Zhang (张) Given name: Xianzhong (献忠) |
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| Era dates | |
| Dashun (大順): 1644-1646 | |
| Posthumous name | |
| Emperor Gao 高皇帝 |
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| Temple name | |
| Xi Taizu 西太祖 |
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| Dynasty | Xi (西) |
| Born | 18 September 1606 |
| Died | 2 January 1647 (aged 40) |
Zhang Xianzhong or Chang Hsien-chung (simplified Chinese: 张献忠; traditional Chinese: 張獻忠; pinyin: Zhāng Xiànzhōng) (September 18, 1606 – January 2, 1647), nicknamed Yellow Tiger, was a Chinese rebel leader who conquered Sichuan Province in the middle of the 17th century. Upon capturing it, he declared himself emperor of the Daxi Dynasty (大西王朝).[1]
According to Chinese chronicles, many scholars rejected that claim, so he had them massacred. After killing the scholars, he went after the women, merchants, and all the officials. Then he had his soldiers kill each other and the officers' wives' feet cut off and put on top of a mound.[2]
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Zhang Xianzhong was obsessed with ears and feet, so he had his own personal guards retrieve the ears and feet of the people killed in the outlying districts in order to count how many people they killed there. After the massacre was over, he supposedly had a stele, which came to be known as the Seven Kill Stele (七殺碑), erected in an important part of Chengdu with the following inscription:
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Heaven brings forth innumerable things to help man. |
A stele was excavated in 1934 which was thought to be this very stele. However, this stele does not have the character for 'kill', and the last line is entirely different.[3]
Zhang Xianzhong's rule devastated Sichuan. The population of Sichuan dropped from 3,102,073 at 1578 to 18,090 at 1685, and the number of residents in Chengdu decreased from 400,000 to 20 . A massive resettlement called Huguang fill Sichuan (湖廣填四川) lasted more than a century during the Qing Dynasty, which triggered another massive resettlement: Jiangxi fill Huguang (江西填湖廣). Few said he did not kill so many people.[4][5] Some other militia also massacred.[6][7][8] Lu Xun said he did that as he knew he is going to lose.[9]